Whatever happened to 777 Partners? The company still exists, though their website has gone dark, they are losing court cases, and a former employee has testified under oath accusing them of “stealing” 350 million dollars. Now, one of their creditors wants to tell their story.
By Philippe Auclair and Paul Brown
The official website belonging to 777 Partners went down on 27 March. And while this has happened before, this time it does not look like it is coming back.
The troubled Miami investment firm has been dying a slow death ever since it failed to complete its intended purchase of Everton, with the final nail in its coffin being the explosive lawsuit brought by Leadenhall Capital Partners, accusing 777 Partners and its major funder A-CAP, of a 609-million dollar fraud.
Once, the firm’s website proudly trumpeted how it owned 60 companies in a variety of different industries. But those assets have largely been seized by A-CAP, quietly liquidated, transferred for little or no return, or put up for sale (*). The company has also been evicted from its offices in Miami and Newport Beach, and faced a winding-up petition in London. As for the website itself, Josimar understands that everything in the Domain Name System (DNS) record has apparently been disabled or deleted except for email support, a sign the company is not planning to turn it back on again.
In addition, 777 Partners failed to make payroll last month (April), with some employees getting paid and others not. And both the Miami firm and A-CAP remain under investigation by the US Department of Justice over potential violations of money laundering laws. Yet amid all this, Josimar understands that Josh Wander has been telling employees there is nothing to worry about, and that in a year’s time they will all be millionaires. Wander and his associate Steven Pasko have long since been forced to resign as managing partners of the firm, which is now in the hands of administrators B. Riley, but the pair retain their ownership interests.
Bills, bills, bills
Wander’s claim is quite the boast considering the hole his company is in – particularly considering how heavily it has been losing in court. For instance, in a final summary judgement on 17 March, the company was ordered to pay 807,671 dollars in damages and interest to the owners of the Boca Raton Beach Club Resort, where they used to hold an annual “investment retreat”, over unpaid bills related to their January 2023 gathering. In addition, the court issued a garnishment order (**) against 777 Partners bank accounts with City National Bank of Florida and Goldman Sachs, meaning the money can be taken directly from those accounts to satisfy the debt.
In an unrelated case, three prominent former employees of 777 Partners – Juan Arciniegas, Jorge Beruf and Aaron Levy – together brought and won a breach of contract case against the firm for “failure to pay benefits due” totalling 4,967,679.57 dollars.
Even more importantly, the colourful counter-suit 777 Partners brought against Leadenhall accusing the lender of hiring their former IT chief to break into their Miami office and steal data, was “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice” in April after a series of damaging depositions.
One that stands out is from Karen Gorde, an accounting controller at 777’s Sutton Park subsidiary until July last year, who testified under oath that in her opinion, Wander and Pasko “stole” “at least” 350 million dollars from Leadenhall. Asked whether there was any doubt in her mind that this was the case, she responded: “There’s no doubt in my mind.” The money borrowed from Leadenhall was supposed to be used to purchase receivables. But, Gorde testifies: “That money never went to those portfolios to purchase. It went straight from Sutton Park to 777.” This backs up claims made by Leadenhall in its fraud lawsuit. Gorde also testified that Sutton Park pledged around 300 million dollars in assets to Leadenhall as collateral that it never purchased in the first place, and that Wander and Pasko both did so knowingly.
In another deposition, Mark Shapiro of B. Riley makes it clear who is keeping 777 Partners afloat. In sworn testimony given on 26 March, Shapiro says: “A-CAP funds the business. The business funds B. Riley and other professionals.” Asked what would happen if A-CAP stopped funding the business, Shapiro replies: “I can’t talk to a hypothetical.”
This is important because the arbitrator in the Arciniegas et al case who found in favour of the plaintiffs in January noted that: “While 777 may be experiencing significant financial hardship, it has not filed for bankruptcy protection and it continues to operate, funding payroll and other expenses through loans from its primary lender.” The lender in question, of course, is A-CAP, which according to the Utah Insurance Department, continued to fund 777 Partners in violation of a Supervision Order the regulator had imposed upon it. Why would A-CAP, whose involvement with Wander’s company has put the investments of thousands of retirees and bereaved families at risk, do this?
Shapiro testified that his conversations with A-CAP chairman Kenneth King “are primarily cash-related. Like any senior lender, he is looking to fund as little money as possible. That is what senior lenders do, you give them a budget and they want you to beat the budget. My discussions with Kenny are mostly funding payroll, funding expenses and, as I said, him trying to understand how we are disposing of businesses.” Whether or not King is merely acting as a “senior lender” or, as Leadenhall claims, a “Wizard of Oz” figure pulling the strings and secretly controlling 777 Partners from the shadows as a member of its Steering Committee, will be a matter for the courts to decide.
One flew over a cuckoo’s nest
Creditors may be circling over what’s left of 777 Partners. But those who have gone to court remain only a small fraction of the total who claim they are owed money by the company. Josimar has been told of cases involving agents of football players who were not paid their commissions, intermediaries who facilitated the purchase of at least two of 777’s former football clubs and haven’t seen any money yet, and suppliers to various subsidiary companies whose bills weren’t paid.
One of those creditors, whose experience is illustrative of how the business currently operates, agreed to share their story with Josimar: Redstrike, a multinational consultancy headquartered in the UK, best known for its work in the world of Formula One, but which has also been involved in football and other sports. 777 Partners had displayed their logo in a “presentation deck” vaunting their “phenomenal growth” produced for a February 2022 “investment retreat” in Orlando.
The problem was that Redstrike never really was a 777 Partners company. Or was it?
Back in the summer of 2020, Redstrike, who’d been in business for six years, was looking to fund a F1 project and were put in touch with 777 Partners by a mutual business connection. COVID put the project on hold, but talks resumed a year later, when Josh Wander emailed the British company off his own bat and offered a term sheet for the purchase of 75 percent of the business. Redstrike agreed to the sale, and both parties signed a “Heads of Terms” agreement in October 2021, which was finalised in June 2022 (Josimar has had access to extensive documentation of the exchanges between the two parties throughout their relationship).
All the while, since a deal had been struck in late 2021, Redstrike had accepted to trade as a 777 portfolio company, believing that, since Heads of Terms had been signed off – and Wander himself had initiated the move – the wheels had been set in motion for good and that formalising the sale was only a matter of time. They took part in the “investment retreat” mentioned above, being introduced as “777 Partners’ motorsport team”. A month later, on 17 March 2022, a new entity called Redstrike Partners was incorporated in the UK, sole shareholder: Josh Wander (***).
As per the agreed Heads of Terms, service contracts were signed by Redstrike senior management in July 2022, after 777 Partners’ counsel Norton Rose had informed them that the completed sale agreement had now been signed by Wander. But no signed sale agreement was ever sent to the Redstrike Group. They were also told that the transfer of funds for the purchase of their business was “imminent”. But those funds never reached their bank account, despite repeated reassurances they would, as is attested by this WhatsApp message sent by Josh Wander himself to a Redstrike executive in December 2022. The “cash” in question is the money due by 777 Partners for the purchase of the Redstrike Group.
Redstrike was now put in an impossible position. They could not close any deals for themselves as they had become – in theory – part of the 777 portfolio. And now, their UK bank closed their business accounts, as their licence did not allow them to have the custom of their new “owner”, a US citizen.
“Josh is a man of his word”
Despite this, Redstrike carried on acting as a bona fide 777 Partners company throughout. As they had a mandate from the organisers of the South African GP, they offered the Miami firm a way into the world of Formula One. This was an opportunity which Wander was delighted to seize, even if nothing seems to have come out of it in the end. Aaron Levy, principal of 777’s leadership team, was dispatched to South Africa. Wander went there too afterwards. As is shown by an internal agreement signed in December 2022 by the Redstrike Group and 777 Partners, represented by Levy, which Josimar has seen, the two parties would “work together and use their best endeavours to finalise the formation and completion of the Joint Venture, make the agreed investment under the Subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement and complete all documents no later than 23 December 2022”.
But with every day that went by without seeing trace of either a signed contract or a payment, the suspicion Redstrike’s management had that 777 Partners were only interested in using their name, logo, contacts and reputation in order to break into Grand Prix racing grew into a near-certainty.
In March 2023, in a conference call attended by Redstrike management and five 777 Partners executives, including Levy and Steven Pasko’s son Tyler, Levy still promised that his British partners “[would] be looked after”. “Josh is a man of his word”, he said. “The terms have not changed from the original […] deal”. And it is true that Wander was more committed than ever, though not perhaps to what his British partners had in mind. Three months earlier, he’d paid a 239,000-pound Redstrike UK tax bill with money coming “from his daughter’s trust fund”, a highly unusual move which he nevertheless boasted about in private at another 777 Partners retreat in Boca Raton, January 2023.
777 were the cuckoo in the nest. Despite promises repeated on a quasi-weekly basis, the money still wouldn’t come. The alarm bells were ringing louder and louder, especially now that the media, very much including Josimar, had started reporting about the catastrophic financial situation, questionable methods, and court cases 777 Partners they were embroiled in.
After months of to-ing and fro-ing, empty reassurances and occasional silence, the original owners of Redstrike chose to cut their losses and sought a settlement. On 30 May 2024, they emailed an invoice for time and expenses to 777 Partners UK finance director Keith Steele, who remains part of 777’s skeleton crew to this day. Then they sent a reminder. Both emails were ignored. The sum Redstrike was asking for, 1.5 million pounds sterling, represented a mere fraction of the price which, according to Redstrike, had been offered by Wander himself when their company had been “sold” to 777 Partners (10 million pounds sterling for 75 percent of the equity), and should have been loose change for an investment fund claiming to manage billions of dollars. Hope rose when Steele finally acknowledged their demands in August, and informed them that the person they should liaise with was Ian Ratner, the CEO of B. Riley Advisory Services, who’d been called in to take care of the crumbling 777 empire and whom Redstrike were told were now running it. So, in early September 2024, Ratner too was sent a copy of the invoice; and another one. Again, no response.
Then, out of the blue, on 20 September 2024, 777 Partners’ Accounts Payable Administrator Jeanine Zukowski sent out an email which revived Redstrike’s hopes. “This attached [Redstrike’s invoice] has been forwarded to us”, she wrote. “So that we can process, please provide a 2021 W8 [tax form]. Also, bank details on bank letterhead are required. Please send this as well”. Redstrike did as instructed, but no payment came, and so the cycle of unanswered emails started again. One Redstrike executive managed to get through on the phone to Ian Ratner in mid-October, to be told that enquiries should be directed to Josh Wander’s sister Mollie and 777 Partners General Counsel Christopher O’Reilly. But wasn’t B. Riley supposed to run the show? Wasn’t it what Keith Steele had said?
“Cease and desist”
Redstrike reminded Ratner of this. Ratner’s response was to forward their email to Mollie Wander, who responded with the following message. “777 demands that you cease and desist all such communications immediately. As you and your colleagues are well aware, 777 has always disputed these “invoices” or any responsibility related to these invoices. All rights and remedies at law and at equity are hereby reserved. Govern yourselves accordingly”.
Redstrike asked her on what she could possibly base her claims. There was no response this time. Multiple efforts were made to get Ratner to engage. One such email, sent in December 2024, read: “we have lost all confidence in the executive team at 777, and we are justifiably alarmed to learn that members of this team are currently under investigation by the FBI and other governmental entities for various allegations, including fraud. Given that B. Riley is responsible for managing the affairs of 777, we will continue to direct our requests to you and expect them to be addressed in a businesslike manner”.
Ratner did not reply – neither did he reply to Josimar when we contacted him on two separate occasions – but 777’s counsel Christopher O’Reilly did for him, demanding that Redstrike cease trying to contact Ratner – or else – and denying that the invoice which 777’s own financial department had been happy to process was of any value. “It is unclear why such an invoice was issued”, O’Reilly wrote, apparently for “staff costs” going back 3 years for work claimed to be “carried out for the benefit of 777 independently”. To my knowledge, 777 and your company have no contract for services. If there is such a contract (we are not aware of one and do not believe one exists), please provide a copy to support your claims. So it is abundantly clear, 777 disputes this invoice and any other invoice you and your company has purported to be due in the past”.
The valediction was word for word the same as the one Mollie Wander had used two months previously.
“777 reserves all rights and remedies at law and at equity”.
“Govern yourselves accordingly”.
Redstrike are still waiting for their money, and the hope that they will ever get any of it has receded even further. 777 and B. Riley have been completely silent since February. Legal action was considered, but Redstrike is currently unsure which entity it would even need to sue.
There is a coda to this story. A Redstrike executive who visited Keith Steele in 777’s Mayfair office in the autumn of 2024 described a scene of desolation to Josimar. No-one else around. No lights on. Plants dying. No coffee for the machine. Not even a bag of PG Tips to make a quick brew. One week later, Steele had left that office to take residence in a workshare space. 777 Partners is no more, but the ghost lives on.
777 Partners disputes the allegations of stealing, but admits it owes money to Leadenhall.
Ian Ratner of B. Riley and Christopher O’Reilly of 777 Partners were contacted by Josimar for comment but did not respond within the allotted time.
UPDATE
In a new legal filing made on 1 May, 777 Partners and A-CAP are accused of violating a court injunction in relation to the sale of Everton in December 2024.
To recap, Leadenhall was granted a Preliminary Injunction last July against the dissipation of assets at below fair value by 777 Partners as part of the fraud case it put before the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.
Several asset transfers have since occurred, as described above in this article. However, it is two in particular which Leadenhall claims breached their injunction, and for which they want 777 Partners and A-CAP held in contempt of court – and fined a total of 25,000 dollars a day.
The first involves the takeover of Everton by The Friedkin Group (TFG), which resulted in TFG settling loans worth around 201 million dollars made to the club by A-CAP via a 777 Partners subsidiary called Nutmeg. In return, Josimar has reported that A-CAP received a 60 million pounds payment from TFG and 130 million pounds preferred equity in Everton plus warrants which, if converted, would give it a 10 percent shareholding in the club.
Leadenhall’s accusation is that, months before this, in April 2024, Nutmeg “transferred the Everton loan to A-CAP for no consideration”. Then in June, that “A-CAP seized control of Nutmeg while avoiding transferring its equity” and then finally, in December, “A-CAP wrote down debt owed by Nutmeg”. The company’s filing states that A-CAP “monetised” that loan “for itself” and that “though A-CAP subsequently wrote down debt owed to A-CAP by Nutmeg to create the appearance of consideration,” 777 Partners has “no idea whether the debt write-down constituted fair consideration for the receivable from which A-CAP profited.” In conclusion, Leadenhall’s attorneys write, “A-CAP looted the vault” while 777 Partners, which guaranteed Leadenhall’s money, “looked the other way.” Leadenhall calls this “a textbook insider transaction.”
The second alleged breach involves the transfer of a UK-based company called Trans Atlantic Lifetime Mortgages (TAMI) from 777 Partners to Kenneth King of A-CAP in July 2024. Leadenhall claims 777 Partners received a “cash advance” of 2-3 million dollars for this company, despite estimating its value at between 250-300 million dollars. According to Leadenhall, that advance was promptly spent by 777 Partners on “operating expenses” and no actual purchase price for TAMI has ever been calculated.
As a result, Leadenhall wants 777, A-CAP and King held in contempt, and sanctioned by the court. Their demand is a fine of 25,000 dollars per day from the date of the transfer of TAMI (July 8) and another 25,000 dollars per day from the date of the Everton transaction (18 December).
(*) One such asset, a travel technology firm known as Go7 which offers software solutions to airlines, was seemingly transferred into the hands of 777’s vice president Adam Weiss, who was until recently under investigation in Australia for his role in the collapse of budget airline Bonza, and played a prominent role in 777’s failed investment in British Basketball which ended in the liquidation of the London Lions franchise, and the national governing body of the sport’s decision to pull the licence from the British Basketball League itself. Josimar understands rival bids were made for Go7 but not seriously considered.
(**) A “garnishment order” is a court order that directs a third party (e.g., a bank, an employer, or another individual) to pay money they owe to a debtor (the defendant) directly to the creditor (the claimant) in satisfaction of a debt.
(***) The present status of the company is uncertain. It was the subject of a compulsory strike-off order by Companies House in March 2025, having failed to submit documentation within the due period. The strike off order was suspended a month later following an objection made by an unnamed third party to the Registrar.
